Physical Therapy FAQs
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We treat individuals of all genders who are 18 years of age and older.
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Preventative Care: We see people who are not having any symptoms but want a prevention (well) visit. This can be at any age or stage of life and is a great way to identify potential issues early and help prevent issues from occurring.
Pregnancy & Postpartum: We encourage patients who are planning for pregnancy, are currently pregnant, or are postpartum to schedule a visit. We help them prepare their bodies for the demands of pregnancy and childbirth, as well as decrease pain and improve their strength and stamina during their pregnancy. We can also help patients support their bodies with postpartum healing and recovery. This includes abdominal separation (diastasis recti) and C-section scar pain and restrictions.
Urinary Issues: We commonly help patients who have a sudden & strong need to pee (urinary urgency), have to go pee often (urinary frequency), have pain when peeing, leak pee (urinary incontinence), have difficulty peeing or initiating urination (urinary hesitancy), spray urine, and have an overactive bladder. Although leaking may be common during certain periods of life or after surgery, it is not normal and we can help!
Bowel Issues: Some of these conditions include: constipation, incomplete bowel emptying, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), leaking poop (fecal incontinence), sudden & strong need to poop (fecal urgency), and post-surgical conditions affecting the abdomen and bowels.
Painful Conditions: We often work with patients who are experiencing pain in their back, abdomen, hips, buttocks, groin, vagina, vulva, scrotum, penis, rectum, pelvis, and pelvic floor. Some of the painful conditions we treat are: vaginismus, painful sex, pudendal neuralgia, vulvodynia, painful periods, endometriosis, proctalgia fugax, tailbone (coccyx) pain, and interstitial cystitis.
Supportive Conditions: Too much mobility in our joints or laxity in our tissues without enough support and stability can cause pain and difficulty performing daily tasks. Examples of conditions we treat include: sacroiliac joint (SIJ) dysfunction, pubic symphysis dysfunction, feelings of heaviness or bulging in the vagina or rectum (pelvic organ prolapse), diastasis rectus abdominis (DRA), and poor postural habits.
Pre & Post-Surgical: Pelvic physical therapy can help you prepare for and heal from abdominal and pelvic surgeries. We also help with conditions that may result from surgeries like prostatectomy, prolapse repair, Caesarean birth, abdominoplasty (tummy tuck), bowel resection, endometriosis ablation/excision, etc. This includes erectile dysfunction (ED), fascial adhesions, and post-surgical scar tissue in the pelvic floor, low back, and abdomen.
Orthopedic Concerns: We can help you from head to toe! Common issues like back pain, neck pain and headaches, sciatica, abdominal pain, butt pain, hip pain, SI joint pain, groin pain, knee pain or stiffness, plantar fasciitis, golf/tennis elbow, shoulder pain or decreased range of motion, are all concerns that we help with. -
Yes! Ariel offers trigger point dry needling. You can learn more about it on our blog or book an appointment with Ariel to see how dry needling may benefit you.
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We take a very holistic and customized approach to your pelvic health, so there is no pre-determined number of required visits. In the evaluation (first) visit we’ll let you know what we recommend based on our assessment, but the number of visits and frequency is totally up to you. We’ll work with your schedule and budget so you get the most out of the time you have available.
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Most of our appointments can be booked online! To schedule with us, click on any button that says Book Pelvic Physical Therapy (or simply click this link!). This will take you to a page where you can choose your desired visit type and see available openings for each provider. To book a new patient visit with Dr Shipley, please call or email us. Payment and registration are required to reserve your appointment.
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Yes, we are able to treat patients during menstruation. If your flow is especially heavy you can keep your appointment and decline internal work. If you prefer to reschedule your appointment that is ok too, but we ask that you give us at least 24 hours notice before your appointment so your payment may be applied to your future visit and we can help another patient during that time.
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Pelvic floor physical therapists have a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree with advanced postgraduate training in working with the muscles, nerves, connective tissue, fascia, ligaments, and joints of the pelvis, hips, abdomen, and back. They also are trained in how to do a detailed internal evaluation of the pelvic floor muscles. Pelvic physical therapists are educated in the intricate ways that the pelvic floor muscles work with the body’s stabilizing system, internal organs, and the digestive, urinary, and reproductive systems.
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When you make your first appointment you’ll receive your new patient paperwork via email. This includes a detailed questionnaire about your current concerns and medical history. Completing this as soon as possible allows your therapist to review the information before your appointment and make the most of your time together.
At your appointment we’ll first discuss the reason for your visit and review your paperwork with you, in case we have any questions. After talking, we’ll assess your body on the outside (posture, strength, etc). If you’re willing, we will then do an internal assessment to get vital information about your pelvic floor muscle function. No speculum is used. Throughout the session we’ll talk to you about what we’re finding and educate you on pelvic floor health.
If time allows we will begin treatment at the first session. We’ll discuss goals for your care and you’ll be given a home program to follow. We may give you homework to complete such as a food, bladder, or bowel diary.
Follow-up visits are more focused on treatment and assessment of progress. We believe strongly in the power of touch and we incorporate a variety of manual therapy techniques as needed. We’ll check to make sure that your form is correct for your at-home program, advance your program if appropriate, and answer any questions or concerns you may have. -
If you aren’t able to or aren’t comfortable coming in for an in-person visit, a telehealth appointment is a great option! Our pelvic physical therapists can do most of the evaluation and assessment via a video call with you. We can demonstrate exercises, educate you on pelvic health and what you’re experiencing, answer your questions, and give you a home program to work on. Hands-on work and an internal evaluation would require an in-person visit, and your pelvic physical therapist will let you know if they think that would be beneficial for you. For the telehealth appointment you will log into your online patient portal and your therapist will start the call at your appointment time.
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We generally advise patients who have just given birth to wait until they are six (6) weeks postpartum before coming in for a pelvic physical therapy appointment, but if needed we will see a patient immediately. We have seen patients as soon as two days postpartum.
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No matter how old your child is, it’s never too late to see us! Sooner is always better but the body is constantly growing and repairing so there are many opportunities to correct issues.
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Yes!
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Yes! We have plenty of free parking available at our office. When you enter the office complex pull immediately to the right to be closest to our office, but you can park anywhere.
Pricing & Payment FAQs
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New patient evaluation (55 min): $225-$275
Follow-up visit (55 min): $225-$250*
Dry needling or follow-up visit (30 min): $125*
*Established patients only - must have had an evaluation visit to book this
In-person and telehealth visits are the same price.
We also offer packages of 4, 6, and 10 follow-up visits (see package FAQ below).
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We accept Visa, Mastercard, Discover, or Amex, as well as HSA or Flex Spending cards with those logos. Payment is required to book an appointment - you can pay and schedule online or by calling our office.
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Yes! We offer packages for physical therapy follow-up visits with Amanda and Ariel.
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Physical therapy packages:
An initial physical therapy evaluation visit is scheduled separately - at that visit your physical therapist will give you guidance on how many visits might benefit your body and you can decide if you’d like to purchase a package.
Pkg of 4 follow-up visits with Amanda = $900 ($225 each)
Pregnancy Package - 6 follow-up visits ($220 each) with Amanda or Ariel PLUS Amanda’s signature holistic birth prep program (Progressive Pregnancy - 40% off!) = $1,500
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Visits purchased in any package must be used within one year of purchase date.
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While pelvic floor therapy is usually a covered health benefit, many insurances do not ‘understand’ pelvic health and may not deem pelvic floor therapy treatments as medically necessary. All plans are different though, so we encourage you to check with your insurance carrier about your particular plan.
Because of the difficulties associated with accepting insurance, we are not contracted with any insurance carriers - we are an ‘out-of-network’ provider. This means that we do not accept insurance as a form of payment.
However, you may use your Flex or HSA card to pay for the visit. Or if you have out-of-network benefits you can submit a claim to your insurance carrier for possible reimbursement. We provide all patients with a detailed superbill/receipt that they can submit, but we do not communicate with insurance carriers regarding claims.
If you would like more information in order to check coverage with your insurance carrier, you can email support@renewpelvichealth.com for a list of the codes that may be used at your visit.
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This is such an important question that we wrote a blog post about it!
In a nutshell, our providers want to be able to spend more time with patients and not be restricted to only using the treatment options that insurance understands/covers, so we made the choice to not contract with any insurance carriers. It is our experience that we’re better able to empower patients and help them heal faster without the restrictions and administrative burden of insurance contracts.
We also want to make pelvic health education and support accessible to as many people as possible, which is why we also offer online courses in pelvic health as well as a blog and podcast.
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Georgia is a ‘direct-access’ state, which means that you can start care with us without a referral. If you need care for more than 21 days or 10 visits, we will need to contact an MD, DO, PA, NP, or midwife who is involved in your care to approve additional visits. We’ll ask you for your provider’s name and contact info and then we’ll take care of the rest!
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Yes! Medicare allows us to see Medicare patients on a cash-basis as long as the patient signs an ABN (Advance Beneficiary Notice of Noncoverage) before their visit. Medicare will not pay for services we provide (because we are an out-of-network provider), but if you choose to file a claim with Medicare you can send the Medicare denial to your secondary insurance to see if they might reimburse you.
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If you need to cancel or reschedule we ask that you notify us at least 24 hours before your appointment. This allows us to offer that spot to another patient and either provide a full refund or apply your payment to a future visit. Refunds are not given for appointments cancelled with less than 24 hours notice.
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